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Why Afrobeats Artists Are Boycotting The Nigeria Headies Award Show

• Brodda Mike • Season 2 • Episode 7

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Nigeria's premier music award show, The Headies, has fallen from its glory days of cultural significance to becoming increasingly irrelevant as major artists boycott the ceremony and fans lose interest. We explore the decline from the golden era of 2012-2015 to recent failures, analyzing what went wrong and how the award show might redeem itself.

• Poor organization, lack of transparency, and credibility issues have driven away top talent
• Moving the ceremony from Nigeria to Atlanta and Las Vegas alienated fans and created logistical nightmares
• Absence of collaboration with PR firms and resistance to modernization has stunted growth
• The decline reflects broader Nigerian entertainment industry problems with structure and standards
• Solutions include returning to Nigeria, improving transparency, investing in production quality, and embracing collaboration
• Both organizers and artists share responsibility for rebuilding the platform's reputation

The matter does not matter until it begins to matter. Catch up with previous episodes on Spotify and all major streaming platforms, and follow us @battabox on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook for more conversations.


Thanks for listening... visit our website at https://www.battabox.com

Speaker 1:

Turn it up. I told you nah-ah, ah, please. No, you are worse than me. I know that you ain't saying this, but you ain't saying this. What's good, my people, welcome to another episode of the Battlebox Podcast.

Speaker 1:

And I'm your host, your guy, your very sharp guy, baba K. I'm sorry, I couldn't, um, you know, deliver with the episode, for last week I was pretty much down with typhoid, was um really challenging times for me. It was down, I had to take drugs, I had to take injections and I really, really hate injections and I also had to take drip just to, you know, feel better. But for like two weeks I've been struggling with this whole type of thing. I'm glad I'm gradually getting back to being myself from this whole illness. Thank you to everyone that reached out to me. I really appreciate. I'm really not there yet, but gradually I will find my way back to. You know my usual self, the baba k, that you know. But in the meantime, um, like I always tell people, I think good health is underrated. Yes, and I can't say that enough, good health is totally underrated, but anyway, that's a topic for another day.

Speaker 1:

Today, um, we're diving into a question that has been on the lips of every real music lover in niger and that question is what happened to the headless award now? The headless award was once the crown jewel of nigerian music recognition. Now some just say it's a shadow of itself. Big names are pulling out, fans are disinterested and the streets are asking is the Hedi still relevant? Anyway, let's unpack everything Now. Let's take the trip back to 2012, to 2015,. The golden years of the Head is back when Olamide vs Don Jazzy outbursts could shut down the internet. When Whiskade, devito, tiwa Savage and Bonoboy actually showed up. When winning Head is meant validation, respect and bragging rights, that open doors.

Speaker 1:

Remember when the Next Rated Award actually meant something. In 2010, it went to Whiskey. In 2013, it was from Tizzle. By 2015, it was Ricardo Banz, and boy did that moment shake the entire country.

Speaker 1:

Remember that incident that happened where the next rated category had some very, very talented people. In that category we had the likes of ricardo banz, leo cash uh, kiss daniel. And named him, and everybody that year somehow expected that leo cash was going to win that award. But somehow ricardo banks won and didn't mean that Ricardo did not deserve it. I think he did, but some people felt like Leo Cash should have won that category, the next rated category, and so of course, remember the incident where um Olamide came on stage, you know had rants, expressed his displeasure with the whole thing, you know, dropped the mic and left the stage and some moment later Don Jazzy came on stage to pick up the award and said Uncle Olamide, if you want the award award, come and collect it.

Speaker 1:

And the entire award went berserk. It was crazy. We have never seen that kind of situation happen in a major award event like that. I'm not even sure it has even happened, apart from the one that happened at the Oscars between Chris Rock and Will Smith. But this was something huge. Social media went wild, everybody was talking about it and for weeks it was trending and we had people on the mainland who were threatening, and so the mainland was supporting Olamide, the island guys were supporting Don Jazzy. We had people on the mainland saying Don Jazzy don't come over to the mainland were supporting Olamide, the island guys were supporting Donjazi. We had people on the mainland saying Donjazi don't come over to the mainland, and that conversation continued. But those were the glory days of the Heres. So then the anticipation, the performance, the drama and the entertainment was even the peak of the head is a word.

Speaker 1:

But now fast forward to those recent additions the biggest act not attending nominees calling out organizers for lack of communications, viewers confused about venue changes and everything different, you know, changing the entire identity of the show. Let's even talk about the las vegas move or atl. Yes, the head is left Nigeria, the very heartbeat of Avrobeat, and they took the show abroad. While some say it was a sign of global ambition, most fans saw it as betrayal. How you want to celebrate Nigerian music and the biggest names not even fit get visa to you know do flight arrangements to come there. It became a logistic mess even in 2023. The show had boner boy, rema, ashaker and thames all absent and the fans were like what's even the point? Now? One question is why are the big artists boy cutting? The head is award now?

Speaker 1:

Here's my few honest reasons why many artists are distancing themselves. For me, I think it's lack of credibility and allegations of favoritism, pay for play and poor judging criteria have, you know, tainted the awards integrity. Some people would even say poor communications. Artists and managers complain they are not contacted properly, nominations happen last minute and logistics are always disorganized. Some would even say irrelevant categories and delayed recognition, many feel the headache is out of touch. Emerging arts don't even get the spotlight in time and by the time they are recognized they are already superstars elsewhere. The social media effect is even there. Platforms like tick tock and apple music charts now determine who's hot or who's trending. The head seems to lag behind. Why wait for months for an award when fans are already validating your impact daily through streams? And again, another question is what can be done. See, we're not just here to bash or talk about solutions, but let's bring it back home. If it's a Nigerian award, then let it happen in Nigeria, not in Atlanta or Las Vegas.

Speaker 1:

That experiment, for me, I think, really didn't work. It it didn't work. But again, we need to fix the process. We have to be transparent, publish a jury list, open voting system to let people and professionals vote together. Then they need to even upgrade the show. Hire better producers, invest in building good stage, sound, lighting, performance, create moments, watch, replay. Then again, maybe collaborate with artists. Don't just invite them. Make them part of the event. Partner with record labels, talent managers and PR firms to build hype and involvement, and I cannot even stress this enough. To build hype and involvement. And I cannot even stress this enough. The part of not partnering with peak our firms is where I think is the biggest problem, because I think the organizers of the head is a word feel like this is our thing, this is hip-hop tv, and we've been doing this for years. We started with the magazine and from the magazine we now have hip-hop tv and I feel like, because it's a tv station on our world, they don't really need other people to be part of it, and I think that's where the biggest problem is. That's where the biggest problem is.

Speaker 1:

If you've been opportune to attend the award recently, you would notice that the excitement is no longer there. I remember the glory days where the band will, you know, tie his towel and come on stage and perform and the crowd will go wild. And now that is no longer the case. Everything has changed. I think they need to partner with PR firms to create more publicity, more balls around the Heddy's Award. All these things will make it much more valuable for people, for artists, for artist managers, for record labels and for entertainers to value this award.

Speaker 1:

Heddy's needs to go back to the glory days where the Heddy's Award was regarded as one of the best awards in Africa? Right now? I don't think it is. And if the organizers of the Hedis Award will take a cue, then they need to understand what happened to the Channel O Awards. Remember, channel O was a music station on Mnet that's, yes, mnet Multi-choice and they had their own awards for years and at some point they felt like this is our own, we need to own it, and they never considered partnering with other people. That was how the decline started for channel O.

Speaker 1:

And if you ask me right now, I think that's the same line that the Heddy's award is towing, because they feel like this belongs to hip-hop TV and we don't need. Or hip-TV rather, yes, hip-tv Because they feel this belongs to hip-TV. They don't need any other people to come in, they only want to look for sponsors who are going to give them money. They think, okay, because it's a TV station-owned award, the TV station is enough to do the publicity for the awards. They don't need other people to come in and publicize what they're doing. They feel like they don't need pr firms to, you know, create balls around it, and that's where I think the biggest problem is.

Speaker 1:

So for the organizers of the head is award, this is my own um suggestion to you guys you think out outside the box, then you need to collaborate, because in this time and age that we live in, collaboration is what makes things work. If you do not intend to collaborate with other people, then you're doomed for failure. You may not like how it's coming out of my mouth, but that is definitely the truth. You need to collaborate with people more organizations, pr firms, social media influencers, tiktokers. I heard sometime um, just before the awards, few weeks before the awards, I heard that, uh, they were partnering with um pella, you know, to stream the awards live. However, I don't know what happened, if it eventually did. I can't remember if it happened, but it seemed like a good move when I had the suggestion that we were going to partner with pella to stream the awards live on youtube and tiktok, but eventually, I don't think that happened anymore. So the question is what happened to that plan?

Speaker 1:

And now I'm going to take the words of somebody who watched the awards or probably was at the awards and this guy tweeted on. He tweeted on X, basically, yes, x, twitter, as we all know from the past. Anyway, his name is Ayola Builds Fast Websites. That is his name is Ayola Builds Fast Websites. That is his name, he said. Four months ago I met with Dr Ayo Animashao, that is the CEO of the Headies and HipTV, and I pitched to him to redesign the Headiescom and HipTVtv for $2,000 each. Now this guy saying that he pitched an idea of you know, revamping their website and that is the website for the head is a world and for, uh, hip tv um website as well. He pitched the idea to dr andy marshall that's ironing marshall and he was proposing two thousand dollars each to upgrade their website and he said hr told him it was too expensive. Now the guy continued in his tweet. He said today the head is his life, but their sites are still updated and using google forms for voting.

Speaker 1:

Why do nigerian companies cut corners on quality? Is this a general thing? So you see, the guy said just before the awards, he had approached the owner of of the headies and that is the also the owner of hip tv awards are you an emotion? Telling him that their website is outdated and he would love to help them upgrade it by, you know, doing a couple of things to the website. For those of you who are into tech, who understands all these things, he wanted to. You know he proposed, you know, rebuilding the website and also rebuilding the website for HipTV Awards, but HR gave him a reply, or a response saying that $2,000 each was expensive and on the day of the awards, people could not properly vote on their websites. Even before the awards, where people were voting, they were still using Google forms for people to vote.

Speaker 1:

In this time and age, talk about us criticizing INEC for not pulling off a good electoral process in Nigeria. It's almost the same thing that the Hades is doing, using the same old school pattern and method and not wanting to change, not wanting to go with the times, not wanting to revolutionize or evolve, and so that's where I think the problem is. Sometimes we are so stuck up in our own ways that we do not want to accept change, and we always see change as expensive. Yes, so the decline of the head is points to a larger issue in the Nigerian Entertainment space. We don't know how to preserve Legacies. We build platforms but we don't maintain them. We love Trends but forget foundations. Think about it if Nigeria had consistently invested in the head is the way the beat BET builds at the BET Awards we would have globally respected platforms by now.

Speaker 1:

And let's be real. These artists want accolades. They just don't want to associate with chaos. That's why they're all turning to international award shows the Grammys, billboard, mtv, europe Because consistency matters. So the big question is I'm throwing it to you now, my people can the headis bounce back? Should we even care? Or are we watching yet another example of how Nigeria fumbles greatness?

Speaker 1:

I want us to go deeper, because maybe the problem isn't just the headis. The problem is the entire Nigerian music industry culture. Yeah, I said it. I said it. Let's be honest. We thrive on vibes, not structure. Hedis isn't the only platform struggling at all. It's not. Just look around. How many long-standing, consistent, high-quality music platforms do we really have? No real chart system system, no verified tracking of sales or streams in nigeria, no standard for live performances. It's like we're building a billion dollar industry on pure adrenaline and hope. So before we throw head is under the bus completely, maybe we need to ask did we ever support the system we claim to love?

Speaker 1:

And let's talk about this artist, because it is easy to say head is don't rate me or they didn't call my team, but how many of these big names actually support industry growth when it's not about them? Butter boy will go to the bet's, whiskey will show up at the grammys, but local awards silence. They demand world-class treatment from jordan platforms while giving foreign ones blind loyalty. Why prestige? Or is it just that this whole deep colonial programming is still part of what we need as validation from the west? Maybe I'm just the one that's thinking this out loud. But let's flip it. If davido whiskey, tiwa savage or burner boy all collectively show up and supported uh rebuilding the head is, I'm sure that our world will still be as big as it used to be back in the days. Or would it become the bet or the mtv of africa?

Speaker 1:

The nigerian music space is full of gatekeepers, and you know them. I know them too. They decide who wins, who gets a play, who gets invited, and if you're not part of the uh cool crowd, then you haven't paid your dues. Of course you know that means brown envelopes and that means you get to be sidelined. So how many artists have called out awards for demanding uh pay to win nominations? Or how many promising talents have been overlooked because they weren't affiliated with the right labels or managers? So what happens? People stop trusting the system, the fans tune out, the artists ghost the event and the award dies a slow death. The Grammys have, you know, had their own scandals too. Yes, but guess what? They have a transparent voting process, a voting academy, and they make constant efforts to evolve the breeds award, the MTV, even South Africa Metro FM Awards. They all treat our words, their awards, as national heritage, not just an event. The country invest in them, of course, then artists also respected.

Speaker 1:

Now imagine a Nigerian version of the Grammys. With proper curation budgets, pre-award campaigns, media partners, tour promotions and post-event rollout. It could boost tourism, elevate our music globally and rewrite the narrative no, what we don't want to build, we just want to blow. So let's stop pointing figures and start naming responsibilities. The head is need to be transparent, be more organized, innovate, but don't be afraid to reset the system. Don't always say this is the way we've been doing it, we can't go the other way. Then artists need to show up and support the awards, even when you are not winning. Help build something that lasts for the industry. They need to get real with the numbers, create actual charts, invest in data production and training. All these things are necessary, then, for the fans. Stop treating these events like fashion shows. Yes, we need to demand more reward consistency over transparency.

Speaker 1:

My final thoughts the Hedis isn't dead, but it's just gasping for air, and maybe that's a mirror of the Nigeria we know today. So much, so much potentials, so much talent, talent, but too much drama and too little structure. So the question is are we ready to change that? Anyway, let's keep the conversation going. You can hit us up on batterbox and batterbox on instagram, as well as tiktok, even on twitter and even on Twitter and even on Facebook, and you can always go to Spotify and all the various streaming platforms to catch up with every single episode before this one and definitely other episodes coming up after this one. It's been your main man, baba K, and, like I always say, the matter does not matter until it begins to matter, catch ya. Matter does not matter until it begins to matter, catch ya.